


Post

by queenofcats



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, spoilers for recent chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 06:52:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8239982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofcats/pseuds/queenofcats
Summary: post [pəʊst]nounBRITISHletters and parcels delivered.prepositionsubsequent to; after. Levi goes against Erwin's orders and ends up regretting it.





	

_'Levi,_ _you don't need to organise my drawers.'_

_'Why, afraid I'll find your dirty pictures?'_

 

_'Levi, if I see you going through my drawers one more time, I won't let you clean my office.'_

_'But they're filthy.'_

 

_'Levi, please. My drawers are private.'_

_'Yeah yeah.'_

 

_'Levi, don't ever look in my drawers again. That's an order. I don't want you seeing what's inside.'_

_'Fine. Fuck you.'_

Levi stands in front of Erwin's desk. The responsibility of cleaning out his office falls to him now. 

"I know I'm going against your orders, but..." 

Brushing his fingers against the worn wooden surface, he notices a thin layer of dust. 

"You should really clean up after yourself, old man." Levi walks round to the other side of the desk. Erwin's chair sits untouched, tucked in under the table. He sits down in the cold seat. "Usually your fat ass leaves the chair quite warm. Maybe not this time, huh?"

He leans forward and starts off with the top drawer. Piles and piles of reports are stuffed into it, some of the paper is wrinkled up and torn because it's such a tight fit. 

"Idiot. I would have helped you sort these out, save 'em from getting ruined."

He finds a few drawings in the bottom of the pile, doodles of birds and other animals. Chicken scratch letters accompany the pictures, and Levi realises that these drawings are relatively new. 

"Not bad for your left hand. Is this what you didn't want me seeing?" He makes sure to put the drawings in a separate pile. The reports and other documents can be thrown out. Levi refuses, however, to throw out anything of sentimental value. 

The second of three drawers has pads of paper and envelopes, along with other stationery. Sorting through it all, Levi finds an old-fashioned quill in the set of ink pens Erwin used. 

"I knew you liked that fancy shit." He puts the quill pen on the pile of drawings. 

There are more envelopes in the third drawer, but these have names and addresses written on them. Most of the letters are addressed to Erwin, but Levi finds a few that aren't. They're in a small pile, held together by a string. 

He pulls them out and goes through them.  

"Mike, Nile, Hange, Pixis, Jean, Armin..." Mike's name has been crossed out, but the others are still intact. Those letters join the other things he's keeping, and he puts the rest of them on the pile to throw away.  

When he's finished, Levi lets out a sigh. He's exhausted, every bone in his body aches, but he's grateful for that. He'd rather feel something than nothing.

It's almost time to get on with the rest of the job, he realises. As he stands up, the light of the lamp reflects off the wooden base of the third drawer in a peculiar way.  

"Fake bottom? Clever..." He sits back down and pulls it out. There's an envelope underneath, slightly crumpled up from having been squashed under the wooden panel. To anyone else, it might look as though it's there accidentally, perhaps it was tied up with the others but slipped out. 

Levi knows better, though. 

The name on the envelope is his own, and for a moment he can't decide whether to open it or not.  

He opens it.

 

_'Dear Levi,_

_By the time you read this, I will have died, it will have been a relief as I was suffering. But you must not be sad; I have had a fairly nice life. _

_Especially you._

_You have brought sunshine to my life, even though I've done my best to be a good Commander. Please, Levi, do not give up now I am no longer here. You must move on, and lead the life I never could. You are strong, handsome, and talented. Obviously you have faults - don't we all. But you can make a life for yourself now without me weighing you down. _

_Be helpful to Hange too, they'll need your support._

_Have a good and happy life for me,_

_yours forever and always,_

_Erwin Smith'_

Levi slides the letter back into the envelope, and places it on the table with the other things he's keeping. 

All those times Erwin told him not to look in the drawers of his desk play on repeat in his mind. 

 

"You were right."

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by real life, events in the very very distant past.  
> No.1 tip for grieving: Don't read letters that dead people have written to you until you're definitely over their death.  
> It's torture, I tell you, torture.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments, etc. are appreciated. :)


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